Sebi makes fresh bid to find Sahara Investors

Sebi had received 4,900 refund claims during the August-September exercise from the bondholders of two Sahara companies --Sahara India Real Estate Corp Ltd (SIRECL) and

Sahara HousingInvestment Corp Ltd (SHICL), which had raised over Rs 24,000crore from about three crore investors.

While Sahara maintains it has already repaid more than 93per cent of the outstanding dues directly to the concerned bondholders and the remaining amount was just about Rs 2,500 crore, it deposited Rs 5,120 crore to Sebi in December 2012towards the investor refunds as per Supreme Court orders. Further money has been deposited by the group with Sebi subsequently and it is currently in the process of raisingmore funds to ensure release of its chief Subrata Roy from the jail.

Sebi began the refund process in May 2013, while asking eligible investors to submit their claims. However, the refunds made so far remain minuscule, although the regulator

has not so far made public the quantum of all such payments. Sahara has been maintaining that Sebi should verify the refunds made by it directly and claims to have submitted to

the regulator proof for nearly 75 per cent of refunds. It also says that the remaining 25 per cent refund proof is lying in its Mumbai godown to be given to Sebi.

Sahara also contends that bulk of its investors didn't have bank accounts and other formal financial papers, the details of which have been sought by Sebi. On the identification on Sahara's investors, Sebi has contested in the court that addresses of many investors given

by Saharas were incomplete as only village name, district and state is given without any house number or street/lane names.

On its part, Sahara has maintained that most investors are from rural India and had no house numbers or street names. In the new refund application form, Sebi had given a new

address format for rural investors, asking only village name, post office, district and state as against additional details like house number and street name for urban addresses.

In its latest annual report for the year ended March 31, 2014, Sebi had disclosed having received 3,612 refund applications involving 13,948 deposit accounts till that time in the Sahara matter.

Of those applications, Sebi made refunds in case of 445 applications involving an equal number of deposit accounts for an aggregate amount of about Rs 1.25 crore including interest

of about Rs 43.83 lakh. The other applications had deficiencies or fell under either 'mismatch' or 'multiple investment' category. "Out of the remaining 3,167 applications, in respect of

424 applications involving 1,683 deposit accounts, certain deficiencies were observed in the applications/supporting documents submitted by the applicants which were brought to

the notices of the applicants for their clarification/rectification, and replies are awaited from

them," Sebi said. Sebi also could not process 1,260 applications involving 7,159 deposit accounts as these were in multiple investment category, while 92 cases involving 92 accounts did not meet

the extant refund methodology adopted by the regulator. Besides, 1,776 applications involving 4,395 accounts could not be processed because of being 'mismatch category'.

PTI BJ

STATEMENT FROM SAHARA’S COUNSEL, GAUTAM AWASTHI

In today’s hearing, the Hon'ble Supreme Court with a view to enable Saharas to raise money for fulfilling the bail condition, allowed the prayer of Saharas for taking over of the Bank of China loan on foreign Hotels by another creditor and it also permitted the raising of US $ 650 Million junior loan on second charge basis. Though, there is no requirement of RBI approval under the FEMA Regulations in the concerned transaction, yet on the objections of Amicus and SEBI Counsel, the Hon'ble Court has directed Saharas to seek RBI clarification, if its approval is needed at all or not. The Hon'ble Court made it clear that it has not expressed any opinion on the subject. In effect, the transactions can be taken forward till the point of parking the money in the accounts of Ambey Valley Mauritius Ltd., a 100% subsidiary of Ambey Valley Ltd. The Hon’ble Supreme Court also took note of the fact that the required money for the transactions is already available in the account of creditors which was certified by Bank of America. Further, with a view to give flexibility to the Saharas in expeditiously completing the above-mentioned transactions, the Hon'ble Court was also pleased to grant the facilities of housing to Saharasree and other two directors in a separate premises with the facilities of video conferencing telecommunication, Secretarial assistance, etc. which were earlier granted vide order dated 1st August, 2014. These facilities would be available till 20.02.2015.

Further, the Hon'ble Court has asked SEBI to explain the expenses it is stated to have incurred for disbursing Rs.2 Crore to investors. The SEBI wanted the approval of the Court on its expenditure of Rs.48 Crore for disbursing an amount of Rs.2 Crore to investors. The Hon'ble Court has granted liberty to Saharas for filing its objections on the expenditure incurred by the SEBI which will ultimately be borne by the Saharas.

SEBI versus Sahara: Rs. 22 crores versus Rs. 18000 crores

Today, Sebi has around Rs.11,500 crores of Sahara's money, including bank interest.

By the time our Chairman shall come out, that is, when full bail amount is paid, our money lying with SEBI will be Rs.18,000 crores cash.  Since no bank is ready to give Bank Guarantee to us without 100% cash margin, it is going to be Rs.18,000 crores of cash with Sebi.

While in the last 26 months,Sebi had to pay only around Rs.2 crores.

More importantly, Sebi came out with an All-India Media Advertisement, twice, inviting investors for repayments. But till now, they have received from all over India, a demand of Rs.20 crores only.

A question can now arise that whether the investors exist or do not exist; meaning, are these all fictitious accounts?

Only verification can clarify this point, as mandated in Hon'ble Court's order of 2012. Since then, in almost past 26 months, Sebi has not started verification; the reason best known to them. 

About fictitious account, we would like to mention here another issue pertaining to the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) which is as follows:

Between 2008 and 2012, on RBI's order, Sahara paid back Rs.18,000 crores under the command of RBI's two Statutory Auditors and 3 RBI nominated Directors.  The bank account of that amount was controlled by the RBI.  A strict rule was followed that when RBI auditors finally checked the identity of all investors (KYC), only then the next months' payments were allowed by the RBI and during the process, in 4 years, RBI did not find any fictitious account; not even one.

--

Regards,

Corporate Communications,

Sahara India Pariwar

RBI, SEBI and ROC come under CBI scanner in Saradha chit-fund scam

Kolkata: Investigation into the multi-crore Saradha chit-fund scam is likely to tighten the noose around senior officials of Reserve Bank of India (RBI) and SEBI. Reports suggest that CBI will soon examine some RBI, SEBI and ROC officials in connection with the Saradha ponzi scam.
 
"The examination will be aimed at understanding the circumstances and seeking clarification about documents," an official said.
 
A report in The Indian Express says that the investigating agency has mentioned the role of senior officials of SEBI, ROC, and RBI in the scam.
 
It is pertinent to point out that CBI has already examined two executive directors and one ex-executive director of SEBI during its probe into the scam.
 
The agency has already filed a 25-page charge sheet along with annexures containing the names of three accused - Sudipta Sen, Debjani Mukherjee and Kunal Ghosh, the last being a suspended TMC Rajya Sabha MP who had worked with Sen, the Saradha founder.

MS Dhoni is the new Franchisee owners for Ranchi team of Hero Hockey India League alongwith Sahara India Pariwar

Names the team ‘Ranchi Rays’

Ranchi, 25 October 2014: Hockey India League today announced Captain of India Cricket Team, MS Dhoni in support of Sahara India Pariwar as the new franchisee owners for the Ranchi team. Coining the team Ranchi Rays, MS Dhoni was himself present for the announcement conference held in Ranchi today alongwith Mr. Abhijit Sarkar, Head-Corporate Communications, Sahara India Pariwar & Director - Sahara Adventures Sports Ltd and Dr. Narinder Batra, Chairman, Hockey India League.

Speaking on the announcement Hero Hockey India League Chairman Dr. Narinder Batra said, “This is a great moment for Hockey India League to have MS Dhoni on board as a franchisee owner of the world’s most prominent hockey league alongwith Sahara India Pariwar. This initiative by Sahara India Pariwar showcases the faith that they have in Hero Hockey India League and I am happy by the kind of support that the League is garnering from all quarters. This development also shows the advancement of the HHIL where reputed corporate and sports promoters are coming together to take Indian hockey at a new level altogether.”

Speaking on owning the Ranchi Franchise of HHIL, MS Dhoni said, “Today I am very happy to own the franchisee of Ranchi Team in the Hockey India League. I was always interested to do something for this region and I want to see also that hockey should be uplifted from the grassroot level. I have got this franchisee with the support of Sahara India Pariwar, one of the prime promoter and patron of sports in India.”

Speaking on co-owning Ranchi Rays, Mr Abhijit Sarkar, Head-Corporate Communications, Sahara India Pariwar & Director-Sahara Adventures Sports Ltd said, “Hockey is our national game and we are proud to be associated with Ranchi franchisee and are elated to continue our patronage and support for the game. We will achieve greater laurels and success in the sport of hockey in the coming years and Sahara India Pariwar is committed to the development of sport at all levels.”

Also, Mr. Arun Pandey, CMD, Rhiti Sports added, “MS Dhoni has supported every sport and hockey is another sport which is close to Mahi’s heart. When this opportunity came, Mahi quickly accepted it as he always wants to do something for his state and country. This is an indeed way to uplift hockey in his state which is our national game. We have long term plans to uplift hockey at grassroot level.”

Subsequent to his association with ISL, MS Dhoni continues his support towards other sports beyond being the captain of the Indian Cricket team and Sahara India Pariwar who already own the Lucknow team in the League will now co-own the Ranchi team from this edition of the Hockey India League.

Sebi fails to find investors, Sahara case gets complicated

NEW DELHI: With Sebi failing to find the investors of two Sahara funds — Sahara India Real Estate Corp (SIRECL) and Sahara Housing Investment Corp (SHICL) — the strange case against Sahara chief Subrata Roy and two Sahara directors has turned stranger. Sebi's case rests on its claim that Sahara has not refunded Rs 20,000 crore of investor money. And yet, despite advertisements in papers and other strenuous efforts, the market regulator has not been able to find investors of more than Rs 10 crore. 

This can mean only one of two things — either bulk of the Sahara investors are fictitious entities or the claim of Sahara that it has already repaid 90% of investors of these two funds is true. If the Sahara investors are fictitious, Sebi doesn't really have a role as it is mandated to deal with real investors, and some other agency should look into the case. And if Sahara's claim of having repaid its investors is true, Subrata Roy and the two directors shouldn't be in jail. 

From the very start, Sahara has maintained that most of its investors are relatively poor people from the rural hinterland — people who have been excluded by the banking system so far, and who can be detected only with the help of Sahara agents. Consequently, it has offered Sebi the help of its network of agents to reach Sahara investors. It says that only by reaching these investors, it can be determined whether these investors have been paid back their money. 

Sebi has so far not been impressed by Sahara's offer and tried to find the alleged investors on its own. Nor has the court felt that the modus offered by Sahara was necessary to determine whether these investors are real or not, and if real, whether they have been paid back their money. Now that Sebi's advertisements have failed, the court might have no option but to try out what Sahara has been suggesting. 

Otherwise, the logjam over Roy's imprisonment — now for seven months — is unlikely to clear. While like all businessmen, he's averse to any distress sale of his assets to raise Rs 10,000 crore — the bail pre-condition imposed by the Supreme Court — the case against him would appear to be rather doubtful if there's no investor to whom this large amount is to be returned. 

Some in the legal fraternity have questioned the legality of Roy's continued detention. Now politicians like Manohar Parrikar are also expressing their disquiet. A resolution to the impasse is desirable not just because Roy is in jail, but also because Sahara is the employer of around a lakh people. His continued imprisonment could cripple the company and jeopardize these jobs. 

4,600 Sahara investors claim refund from Sebi

NEW DELHI: Around 4,600 investors in two Sahara group companies have come forward to claim refunds from the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi), which had asked those who had purchased bonds issued by the entities to claim their money. Sources familiar with the development told TOI that the average claim is to the tune of Rs 20,000, resulting in a total demand of under Rs 10 crore.

The low demand will bolster Sahara's argument before courts that it had repaid most of the investors who had come forward to claim the investment they had made in bonds issued by two group companies — Sahara India Real Estate Corp (SIRECL) and Sahara Housing Investment Corp (SHICL).

In August, Sebi had asked investors to submit refund applications with documentary proof by September 30. The regulator has begun the process of issuing refunds, the sources said.

Sebi and Sahara have been involved in a bitter battle over the past few years, related to alleged irregular fund-raising to the tune of Rs 24,000 crore from three crore investors.

Sahara has maintained that it has cleared over 90% of the outstanding amount and paid directly to the bondholders, and the remaining amount added up to around Rs 2,500 crore. Following SC orders, it had deposited Rs 5,120 crore to Sebi in December 2012, while another Rs 3,100 crore was deposited this June.

Sahara chief Subrata Roy has been in Tihar Jail for the past six months after the company failed to raise the Rs 10,000 crore required to secure the bail, which the court is insisting on to repay investors.

The company has tried to sell and mortgage its iconic hotel properties in the US and UK but the efforts are yet to bear fruit. Roy was given permission to use a temporary facility in the jail premises to pursue sale of the hotels but has now been ordered to return to barracks.

Sebi had earlier sought to get the list of investors but made little headway as a truckload of documents reached its Mumbai office. It had also tried to contact investors directly earlier as well but got few responses.